stay on track

Does an Apple Watch help you lose weight?

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What do devices, like Apple Watch and FitBit actually do? Will they give you motivation to lose weight? Will they help you keep it off?

Let’s start with what they can track. The list is pretty impressive:

  • Activity (calories burned, steps taken)
  • Heart rate (intensity of exercise, resting heart rate, HRV)
  • Sleep (deep, REM, light, wake time, blood oxygen levels)
  • Personal metrics (resting metabolic rate, skin temperature, blood glucose levels, levels of strain and recovery)

But how does all of this affect your results? And how can you use it for motivation to lose weight?

Wearables are helpful for setting up your plan. Tracking your progress. Making decisions about when to change your plan. Let you know when you can push harder. Or when you need to pull back.

Sounds great. What’s the drawback?

They don’t make you follow through. And depending on how you interpret the data, can demotivate you and set the stage for a backslide.

You might selectively track data that doesn’t challenge you or move you forward. The numbers can become meaningless. Or a constant reminder that you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do.  

So what’s the difference between your Apple Watch or Fitbit helping you with the motivation to lose weight versus feeling like a nagging mother-in-law who thinks you’ll never be good enough for her baby?

The difference is your mindset. Why you decide to wear it. How you choose to think about the numbers. Intentionally viewing the data to motivate you. To provide the feedback you need to keep going. 

Another important note: The calorie burning info from wearables is inaccurate and incomplete. Even so, they provide a consistent measurement to use as a barometer for improvement. But don’t expect to measure calories in and calories out with any degree of success – I actually recommend NOT counting calories.

motivation to lose weight
Photo by Blocks Fletcher on Unsplash

Which wearable you use is less important than using it the right way. As data to inform your future decisions. Not to lament what you didn’t do.

Set yourself up for success. When you create your plan, use your wearable to get a baseline (i.e., look at what you want to track and then measure where you are right now). Don’t make the mistake of jumping right into setting goals and tracking info without a true look at your current habits. That can lead to your desire outstripping your capacity.

Then set your goal and track the info. If you use the data correctly, it can help you follow through consistently. That’s how your wearable becomes motivation to lose weight.

How to stay on track even when you don’t feel like it

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How to stay on track even when you don’t feel like it

You’re going along, following your plan. You feel great. Your clothes are loose. And then you have one of those days. Or weeks. And you think…

I’ve been so good, I deserve a break.

I just don’t feel like it.

I’ll get back to it as soon as…

Sound familiar?

Life comes at you fast. Which means you need to expect those days. And weeks. And you need to execute consistently to not only get results, but maintain them. That is…

What gets you there, keeps you there.

That’s why the first four steps are critical to stay on track. They set and then build on a foundation that is doable for the long-term. And by long-term, I mean your life. All of it. 

If that sounds scary, take a pause. Consider that everything you do or don’t do – small and large – impacts you down the line.  We don’t consider that very often. But I think we need to start. And not in some judgmental I-just-ate-a-cookie-and-I’m-a-fat-pig kind of way. I’m talking about being thoughtful with the things that are important to you. 

Do not confuse this with being hyper-vigilant. Obsessive. Perfectionistic. I’m recommending that you be intentional. Otherwise you’ll fall back into default mode, which for most of us is NOT following through.

We’re wired to conserve energy. To take the easiest path. It helped keep us alive for most of human history. But today we need to recognize that the easy way is often the hard way. 

What?!

How to stay on track even when you don’t feel like it
Photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash

A client of mine once shared with me the adage: you can do what’s easy and life will be hard, or you can do what’s hard and life will be easy. 

Consider what taking the easy way gets you down the road. Like spending money you haven’t budgeted or ordering another drink, even though you’re at your personal limit. In the moment what’s easy becomes the hard you deal with later. And that later can be weeks or years later, from a budget shortfall for the month to not having enough to retire when you want. From feeling not-so-great the next morning to still struggling with excess weight ten years later. 

This final step in my 5-step process – executing consistently – requires that you keep the other steps in play. That means regularly uncovering then transforming your sabotaging thoughts so that you continue to take action towards your health and weight loss goals. It includes being clear on your “why,” keeping it front and center. And then continually experimenting with your plan, noticing what works, refining and doing it all again. 

Executing is about living a lifestyle that gets you what you want, and keeps you there. Set yourself up with foods you enjoy and activities you like. Make follow through as easy as possible to stay on track. Keep looking at your thoughts so that you notice when your brain sneaks up on you and starts telling lies (you know, the ones about it being too hard or that you’ll never succeed…yeah, those crummy thoughts). 

And don’t wait for it to get easier to stay on track. You’ll simply look up one day and notice that it is.

Stay tuned…because execution is critical, next I’ll talk about “How to keep consistent with healthy habits when life throws you off track.”

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